Sun and Moon
by Eyesinthenight102
Summary: "The Sun never says to the Moon "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that. It lights the whole sky." AU Future Storybrooke.


(AN: Done in celebration of Maine finally legalizing gay marriage. AU Future Storybrooke, Mulan and Aurora came through the portal in 2x09 and have been living in together in Storybrooke for a few years. They are currently in a serious/committed relationship.)

-x-

Aurora's breath came out slow and controlled, whistling through her lips in a windy whoosh.

_Inhale, exhale. Inhale exhale. Eyes closed. Don't think. Just breathe. No one else is here, it's just you. That's all._

Someone coughed far away and to her right, breaking her fragile illusion of solitude. Reminding her that despite however much she wished it, she was not alone in the cavernous church hall. She was the center of attention; all eyes would soon be locked on her thin, frail body. Their gazes would burn, some with joy others with hate, as she walked her slow death-march. The princess could already feel her armpits already getting sweaty beneath the dress's weight of ruching and cloth.

Her dress was an artistry of rough-spun cream-colored silk. The strapless shoulders swooped into a deep sweetheart neckline that emphasized the womanly swell of her chest and the gentle flourish of her collarbone. Soft folds were meted into the fabric, wrapping about her waist and down her back like ripples in a rich and languid pool. Tiny bits of crystal and sequence were dotted along the breast, winking merrily in the radiant light above. Twinkling and glittering, they were unabashedly sure to draw several stares with their shine.

The fabric was thick and heavy, but elegantly fitted. It hugged her waist like a lover, caressing her hips and plunging along her thighs before flaring out dramatically at her knee, falling into a bold and beautiful train of gossamer ruffles. A cluster of pale roses sat cradled in her hands.

Drops of silver hung from her ears and throat like morning dew upon the petals of a delicate flower, and her auburn curls were swept up high into an elaborate weaving of tiny white flowers and gems. The diadem of her station sat perched in the folds of her tresses, polished to a bold shine and daring all to look upon its wearer's fey-born beauty.

The music swelled, a single whiney viola, pitching up and sliding into the familiar classical tune of Pachabell's Cannon.

_Here we go._

She stepped from the shadows of the arching doorway, striding alone and unprotected into the soft glow of daylight. Nearly a hundred faces turned towards her as the rabble looked 'round, craning their necks eagerly to drink her in. Her heels made muted soft thuds on the white carpeted walkway. Gasps of awe and whispers bloomed about her like summer flowers as she processed in, and several sets of watching eyes misted over with tears.

Her heart fluttered and she felt her stomach lurch. She looked down at her feet, trying to ignore their gazes. Her chest felt tight and restricted. Trapped. She felt like a doe faced down by a pack of wolves, terrified and far from the safety of the forest. She couldn't do this. Not now. Not in front of all these people. She felt her legs grow leaden, and her body sway to a stop. A lightness rushed to her head and she started to see black spots dapple before her field of vision.

_Oh dear… I'm going to faint_. She thought, her fingers coiling tighter around the bouquet of white roses in her fist. She clenched them tightly, her glossy nails digging into the verdant stems as if they could somehow miraculously keep her standing upright. She felt herself teetering dangerously on the heels of the white stilettos.

She put a hand out to steady herself. Her azure eyes snapped up, looking about frantically for something to break her immanent fall.

Her gaze alighted on something entirely unexpected, but just as stable.

Mulan stood at the altar, shuffling from foot to foot beside a decrepit old officiary. Her fit form was garbed in a classic black dress, a lotus blossom woven into her dark ebony tresses. The spine of the warrior's back was ramrod straight as she stood chest out, broad shoulders low, rocking anxiously on her toes. Her body looked nearly as tense as the princess felt, but the eyes told an entirely different story.

The rich warm cocoa brown of Mulan's irises were deep and inviting. They were dark and hooded, guarded almost…but loving. Gentle. Solid. Constant. Everything that felt familiar; all the things that were certain in their bleak, dark world. Love, loyalty, honor, fidelity. Everything the warrior felt as she looked upon her princess.

In those eyes, Aurora saw the reflections of everything.

She saw the time the pair of them had danced to the radio after a rough day's work, huddled together in each other's embrace. The time they had tried to bake an apple pie for Red's birthday and managed to spew flour across the entirety of the kitchen floor. The days that they had run side by side, fearing for their own lives, depending on each other for strength and comfort. The moments they had spent simply enjoying each other's company. The times they had been breathless and laughing, and when they had languished in each other's sorrows. Every memory they had ever shared flickered through her mind's eye in a vividly rushing amalgamation of images and impressions.

Her heart swelled, suddenly feeling much too big. The princess realized she knew those eyes better than she knew her own name.

In that brief moment Aurora actually _saw_, the woman she had fallen in love with-Deep. Into her very soul.-and she knew that the warrior was seeing her in return. Her body seemed cleaved atwain by a mingled mix of exaltation and terror, and her doubts suddenly scattered like cockroaches beneath the assured light of Mulan's constancy and love.

"_Come to me. I am here." _The warrior's eyes seemed to say. "_Hold on to me, I will be your strength. There is only you. There is only me._"

"Only us." Aurora murmured in reply under her breath, her gaze never deviating from her beloved's face. Never breaking. Always steady. A sensation of lightness overcame her, and she found herself drawn like water with the tide towards the moon in her life. The princess could have sworn she was floating but she never dared to look. Nothing else mattered. The world could have been crumbling around her feet, and still she would have seen none but Mulan.

The next few moments were a blurring rush, and when Aurora finally returned to her senses, she saw herself, hand entwined with her warrior as the gravelly voice of the officiate echoed, creakily, through the church hall expanse.

"Do you promise to love, cherish, and devote yourself, body and soul, to each other as long as time endures?"

Mulan answered first, voice cracking with eagerness "I do."

Aurora mirrored her partner, voice thick and heavy with the weight of her promise. Her azure eyes shone in devotion. "I do. Always and forever. As long as time endures." She intoned, her vow echoing seriously off the high vaulted ceilings.

"Then I pronounce you, in the eyes of all who witness here, eternally bonded. Soul to soul, body to body, and one to the other. You may now kiss your bride." The old man babbled. His proclamation was hardly begun when Aurora's mouth crushed itself insatiably to her wife's. She threw herself upon her lover, giggling, crying, laughing and hiccupping all at once.

A rare fleeting smile played upon her wife's lips, and the warrior blinked back tears. "I love you." The swordswoman swore. "I've loved you for over 28 years, and I'll love you a thousand yet to come." Her whisper was cut short as the room erupted into jubilant cheers, and the princess reclaimed Mulan's lips with ardent fervor once more.


End file.
